Stachys byzantina (syn. Stachys lanata)
Woolly hedgenettle, rabbit’s ear, lamb’s ear, hare’s ear: its foliage is covered with such dense, soft white down that it is irresistibly tempting to run your hand over it. This is not merely ornamental: these hairs reflect light and limit evaporation, which explains its remarkable drought resistance.
Characteristics:
-
Soft, silvery foliage: pleasant to the touch, it brightens flower beds all year round.
-
Pink flower spikes: flowering stems appear in summer, providing a lovely contrast with the pale foliage.
-
Dense ground cover: low and spreading, it quickly fills out and suppresses weeds.
-
Very hardy: down to -20 °C.
Sowing advice:
-
Exposure: full sun to partial shade.
-
Soil: light and well drained, even poor and rocky. A crucial point: its downy foliage holds water and rots in damp conditions — winter moisture, much more than cold, is what causes it to disappear. Avoid any organic mulch around its base and use gravel instead.
-
Method: no stratification required. Sow in spring, in pots or directly in the ground, 1 cm deep in well-drained soil. Germination in 2 to 3 weeks. See how to sow seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant along borders or in rock gardens, spacing plants 30 cm apart: it spreads quickly and will fill the space.
Care advice:
- Almost no watering once established, and above all, never water the foliage.
- Remove damaged leaves at the end of winter to restore its attractive appearance. Some gardeners cut back the flower stems to favor the foliage, which is more decorative.
Beneficial combinations:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Remarkably, a wild bee, the wool-carder bee, specifically collects the down from its leaves to line its nest. Sowing this plant provides building material for a particular species.
- Its flower spikes are heavily visited by bumblebees in summer.
- Its dense cover protects the soil from drying out and provides shelter for soil microfauna.
Uses:
- Borders, rock gardens, decorative ground cover, dry and Mediterranean gardens. A must-have for sensory gardens, where it is meant to be touched as much as admired.
Symbolism:
Symbolizing softness and protection, lamb’s ear is associated with soothing spaces and gardens designed for children and touch.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Leave a few flower spikes to dry completely on the plant, then rub them over a container: the small brown seeds settle at the bottom of the calyces. See how to store your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for living organisms as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, test them for germination rates, and carefully sort and package them without any chemical treatment. Our belief: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
A plant you simply cannot resist stroking as you walk past.
